I finally got around to working on the 3D model again, and have reached a point where I'm happy with the details and have prepared the model for printing. As well as finishing the interior venting details, the hose connector on the left temple was replaced with something closer to that used on the NECA Big Red figure (the Big Red bio is almost identical to the original P1 helmet, the only differences being the two half spheres on the forehead and the colour), and a small hose connector detail was added to the left cheek (this detail is missing from the NECA bios).

I've recently come into possession of a number of NECA 1/4 scale Predator figures, including the "classic" Jungle Hunter from the first movie with the "closed mouth" head. I've wanted to make a bio mask/helmet for it since I got it, and have spent quite some time trying to find a suitable 3D model to base it on. After much searching around and a number of false starts with low poly models I finally stumbled across a "pepakura" file designed to be printed on paper and cut out to make a full size helmet. Converting to a useable format for 3D modelling took a little time, but I was finally able to get it into Sketchup and start tinkering with it to try and make it suitable for printing in 3D.

I already had a rough mesh of the head from the closed mouth Predator that I'd created using 123d Catch on my phone, and sized in Sketchup to be as close to the physical version as possible. Using this I was then able to scale the pepakura mesh to the head, leaving a little...

So my son wanted a Minecraft sword to run around the house with. I've managed to stay well away from Minecraft, but decided to make him one out of cardboard instead of dropping a large amount of cash on a foam one. It was pretty easy to find a large picture of a sword on Google, and then print it out on a couple of sheets of A4 paper. These were then glued to some scrap cardboard from a box using spray mount.

After allowing to dry this was then cut out using a steel rule and a scalpel. As it's a little thin a second one was made, and then these glued back to back with the edges coloured using felt pen. Finally cellotape was wrapped around it to help protect it against all the bumps it will get while it's swung around, and to stop the two halves coming apart.

Some time ago my son and I built a Revell 1/72 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10 model kit. The canopy has not been glued on as I wanted him to paint it first, but it ended up sitting on a shelf for months and at some point one propeller blade has broken off and been lost. This month my son wants to paint it, so it's time to repair it as it'll look odd with only two blades instead of three. I was first going to try to use some plasticard to repair it, but that was a non-starter as the blade is very thin and has a twist to it that would be extremely to replicate in this way.

Luckily I have some Oyamru "instant mold" that I bought a few years ago, and has previously been used in other projects. This stuff is great, as it's a thermal setting plastic - when it's put in boiling water for about a minute it goes very soft, and then hardens as it cools. Once cool it holds a perfect impression of the item it has been molded around. I couldn't find any "green stuff" putty kicking...

For the AoS painting competition I have taken a model I had almost finished building for my son's train set, and attempted to make it look a little more model-like. The original JPG template can be downloaded here: http://sega.jp/pc/soft/advd2001/img/pm3_01_.jpg (instructions here: http://sega.jp/pc/soft/advd2001/sp_pmt1.html ). This is a 1/144 scale model, but I needed 1/87 to match the scale of the Panzerzug train being built so scaled it up in Photoshop and rearranged the components to fit on an A4 sheet of card.

Here's the model built, with the original inkjet colouring. I've left the tracks off to make them easier to paint.

About Me: I've been interested in Warhammer 40k since 1988 when I bought my first Space Marines. Over the years have also owned and played Space Hulk, Adeptus Titanicus, Space Marine/Epic 40k, Blood Bowl, WHFRP (1st ed), Judge Dredd, Aeronautica Imperialis, and a few other TT/RP games.

Currently working as a software developer in the automotive industry using VB, C/C++, ASP, PHP, HTML/CSS, JQuery/Javascript, SQL, and as an admin managing networks running Windows 2008/2012/2016 and SQL Server 2008/2012/2014/2017.

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